


Scratchbent: Eternity

by timefornothing



Series: Scratchbent Universe [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Growing Up, M/M, New Universe, Reincarnation, Resurrection, They all come back as grubs, i'll add more as they become relevant, karkat as a leader, raising grubs, sburb session win, spacey wacey magic, wrigglers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4866146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timefornothing/pseuds/timefornothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They won the game, they have their own universe to do as they please with, and all of his friends are safe. Well, not all of them, Karkat thinks. Some of them didn't make it until the end. They never got a chance to see what they had a hand in creating.</p><p>He thinks it's time to do something about that.</p><p>-----</p><p>A fic following the events of Scratchbent and 900 years into them having their own universe. However, 900 years is a long time to miss someone, and Karkat decides they need to try and bring some friends back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the summary, this takes place 900 years after Scratchbent. If you haven't read that, you probably should, because there's going to be some references to that session here and is going to explain why everyone is the way they are. There's gonna be a lot more of the main characters from Homestuck in this one, and writing them growing up is going to be fun. Expect some ooc-ness because of the AU situation, but nonetheless, here we go! (:

“Are you sure this will work?”

The small group that had gathered here glanced warily at each other. Sure, the foundation for the plan was solid, and each person had a part to play and they were guaranteed to play that part well, but still. It was a plan built mostly on hope, on faith, that somehow everything would be the same.

Karkat looked back over to Ally, her green eyes wide. He knew she could feel his anxiousness, knew she could tell what everyone in this room was thinking. Her powers--and everyone else's--had only grown since they became gods, and having someone around who could feel every emotion you felt still unsettled him a bit. She gave him a firm nod, sending a small wave of courage his way for emphasis. He smirked back, then looked over to John and Kanaya, their expressions both full of worry.

“Positive. I’ll see you tomorrow on Alternia.”

One by one, the gods disappeared, leaving to go back to their own planets of choice or maybe to another’s. Soon, only Ally, Dave, and John remained, all looking to Karkat. He raised his eyebrows, “What do you three want?”

John and Ally looked to Dave, who sighed and told him, “You know it’s not going to be exactly the same.”

Karkat rolled his eyes, turning away. He strolled across the stone floors of his temple on this planet, slowly falling to ruins as the people of his favorite planet grew up and grew past worshipping gods. Even if it was often forgotten and some of the ceiling was falling apart, it was still his favorite. The memories in this hall were enough to preserve it forever. He'd grown into the leader he was today, bringing everyone together every fifty human years in these halls to help shape the universe as it grew with them. Thing had gone beautifully--with new gods and powers that could do major things, they'd accelerated the growth of the universe so that nearly every planet had a fully functioning ecosystem within a few hundred years. For example: Alternia. The new troll planet's population was already up to what he had grown up in himself in terms of economics and standard of living. It's government resembled more of Beforus, however, meaning that there was still a fuschia-blooded empress ruling the planet. Each time he had seen the empress, his heart had twinged, and it was that uncomfortable feeling that gave root to this idea in the first place.

The three followed behind Karkat, Dave adding on, “Even if we can get them physically here, there’s no guarantee they’re going to be the same trolls you knew, you know?”

“That’s why we have Ally and Terezi.” Karkat told him, not bothering to stop as he turned to face them. The suns on this planet had set, warm light from the torches in the temple still burning, throwing everything into a red glare. “They’re in charge of the memories and personalities. It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

The three before him exchanged another look, and not for the first time, Karkat was jealous of the bond they shared. All of them human, all of them god tier from a session so long ago, all of them positive they would understand each other's glances. Ally especially was almost glowing, no doubt thoughts projected as emotions flying between them.

“Look, I get it. You guys think this is crazy, that we shouldn’t do it.” He turned to face them again, struggling to keep his voice under control. “But we’re going to do it. And it’s going to work, trust me. Now, go get some rest or whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With a chorus of unenthusiastic farewells, they disappeared as well, bright god tier outfits fading into the darkness of the stone ruins. Karkat watched the air for some time after, thinking over the plan in his mind a hundred times. He had thought of every angle, accounted for anything that could go weird. He was positive they could handle it.

_They might not be the same trolls you knew._

He shook his head, pulling his cloak tighter around his shoulders. It didn’t matter. He had to try, for them. He had to.

 

 

“Everyone ready?”

Karkat took a steady look around the group. Everyone was here today. Some to watch, others with a role to play, but every one of the gods was here. Nervous, excited, scared--all of their emotions were all over the place, no doubt driving Ally up the unbearably short walls. It was kind of crowded, if he was being honest, in the cavern of the Mother Grub, but this is where it needed to take place. Kanaya was standing protectively by her, watching everyone with a wary glance, as if they were going to hurt it.

Kanaya had spent a lot of time on Alternia with Karkat, both of them working diligently to lead the troll population in the right direction. While the indigo caste was the only one who still fully believed in the gods, the trolls meant a lot to them, and Kanaya ended up more here than anywhere else. Each god had chosen--whether actively or not--a planet in the universe they liked best. Some, like Alec and Jake, loved the jungle planets and the memories that their trees contained. Others, like Gamzee, simply enjoyed their planet because they felt like the people there really and truly enjoyed them. And even more than that, Ally and Dirk had chosen the planet with the highest population because that was where they just ended up being needed the most. So to see all the gods in one place was truly a rare sight, and it made Karkat's heart flutter--in the good way, this time.

One by one, everyone nodded, and the ones who were going to participate in the experiment stepped forward. Ally and Roxy both sat, Ally yanking on Terezi’s sleeve until she sat next to her as well. Gamzee sat behind Ally, hands already on her shoulders as Karkat had instructed the night before. Luke, from a few feet away, shot him a glare, but stayed where he was next to the observers. Jade and Fran sat on Roxy’s other side, Kanaya falling into step beside them, followed by Jane, Jake and Karkat himself. They were in a lopsided circle with plenty of space in the middle, the people who weren’t participating stood on the edges of the room.

“Luke, doom check.” Karkat called over his shoulder, wanting to get the show on the road, and Luke shrugged.

“No more than the usual bad feelings. You guys are good to go.”

“Jake? Hope assessment?”

“I am thoroughly hopeful that we will succeed.”

“Good, keep it up. Jade, any weird spacey feelings?”

“Nope! We’re good!”

“Ivan, you see anything bad happening in this timeline?”

“No, all is well.”

“Alright, okay.” Karkat took a deep breath, sitting down himself finally. “Everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing, right?” Again, everyone nodded, and Karkat gave Terezi a worried look. “Alright, go ahead and link us up.”

Terezi closed her eyes with a grin, and a deep hum sounded in his ears. A few feet away, he saw Ally stiffen and Kanaya flinch, but after a few deep breaths, they relaxed, and then he felt Terezi pull his mind into the link.

It was an odd feeling, having so many people thinking in the same space. But they had to be like this, had to have this mental check on each other. Karkat needed to keep a check on everyone and make sure they were doing what they needed to, and he needed to know the exact time to tell the next person to jump in. He added his power to the mix, further strengthening the bonds between everyone joined.

“Everyone’s ready to go.”

Karkat jumped a little. He was definitely still not used to people speaking in his mind, even if Ally and Dirk did it frequently. Terezi’s voice sounded like it not only came from next to him, but from inside him as well, but he only had a second to worry over it before he was thinking through the plan once more to everyone.

“Ally, make sure Gamzee has a good hold on you. We need to keep you even tempered and Terezi slightly apart so that only the memories and feelings we want to go in them do. Don’t let what’s happening affect your job.”

“I’m not stupid, Karkat, I know.” Ally responded gruffly, but he could tell from the tone of her thoughts that everyone else’s emotions were already getting to her.

“Alright, then, let’s do this.” He smiled at everyone. “Let’s bring back some dead friends.”

On cue, Kanaya began filtering through memories of the mother grub and how things worked on the physical end. Fran took those feelings and filtered them through the bigger picture, providing a giant canvas for Roxy to work on. She was the key to this, to bringing them back. She and Fran together would be pulling the essence of their dead friends out from oblivion, from the universe they left behind, and bringing them here. Roxy’s eyes were closed, relaxed, face almost slack. Her hands began glowing in front of her, and that’s when Karkat threw his memories into her search.

Memories of him growing up, talking to other trolls from all around his planet. His memories of meeting them for the first time, of slowly growing into the role as leader of their group. Seven trolls, seven friends, all who died too soon to see the universe they had helped create.

The glow on Roxy’s hands began switching through colors, and in the middle of the circle, seven glowing shapes grew. Each shape took on a color, a familiar color that Karkat had burned into his brain, and that was the signal for Ally and Terezi to begin the hardest part:

Bringing their actual friends into existence instead of just some lumps of flesh.

Terezi’s memories were siphoned into the shapes as they slowly grew more solid, taking on the shape of wrigglers. Karkat had expected them to do this, though. He didn’t really think they could bring them back exactly, and raising them from wrigglers, while annoying, was possible.

“Go, Ally. Get the souls in there.” Karkat prompted when Ally hesitated. “You can do it.”

A warm feeling spread through the air, and Karkat glanced over to see Jake looking over at Ally with a smile. She returned it, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. He could feel her pulling back from the group, shutting off the connection to them so that what she was putting into the wrigglers was untainted. Terezi and Karkat’s memories continued to fuel her along, and he even felt her tap into Kanaya’s memories of them. Each wriggler glowed a little brighter the longer she focused, and Karkat could physically feel the energy in the room come to a peak. There was a loud snap, a bright flash of light, and then the connection in their minds was severed.

The group all fell back a bit, each in turn taking deep breaths and looking hopefully to the center of the circle. Karkat’s eyes adjusted to the darkness once more, and his mouth dropped open.

“Holy shit.” Roxy sighed heavily, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. “I haven’t used my powers like that in ages.”

“I know what you mean.” Jade and Fran agreed, both giggling to themselves as they looked back to the center of the circle.

Seven wrigglers. Seven grubs. They were all there. Rust brown, burgundy, mustard yellow, olive, blue, purple, tyrian--Karkat listed them off in his head, pan firing with sounds of disbelief. They were all there. They did it.

“Is that…” Vriska took a wary step forward, reminding the people in the circle that there were more than just them in the cavern. “Is that really them?”

“As close as we could get, anyways.” Kanaya told her, placing a soothing hand on the mother grub. “We mainly put in instinctual memories that they had prior to playing the game. They’ll be like this for a while, then they’ll need to cocoon.”

“You guys seriously hatch out of cocoons?” Dave snorted, Luke smirking as well. Terezi shot them a glare and they both quieted, and everyone looked back to the grubs, in awe of what they had done.

In the end, it was decided each grub would have a main guardian to raise it while the others cycled through to check up and offer advice. The guardians were decided based on who had the closest aspect, or the most similar personality. Tavros was given to Jake, and John and Vriska would visit often to check on his upbringing. Dave took Aradia and Luke took Sollux, while Nepeta and Equius were given to Fran and Ivan, who looked ecstatic at the opportunity. Eridan and Feferi were to be raised here by Rose and Kanaya, close to the water. Other than their main guardians, everyone would cycle around and visit, and Ally was already talking to Dave about taking some of them on vacations to other planets.

Karkat and Kanaya would regularly visit each wriggler with Ally and Terezi to make sure that each one was given the care it needed and to see if they were doing okay. Putting a soul in a body was an inexact science, as Fran kept telling them, and Alec warned the trolls more than once to not get their hopes up, that there was no guarantee they’d be even remotely similar. His words were drowned out in the sea of excitement, and everyone took to their tasks with a vigor Karkat hadn’t seen in a hundred sweeps.

Their friends were here--grubs, to be raised by them, but here nonetheless. Their universe was flourishing, the troll planet was thriving, and Karkat had helped bring his friends back from the dead.

Finally, the empty feeling in his chest was starting to fill.


	2. Hatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Page raises the Page. It's cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i googled how troll's hatch for like an hour and i still don't get it. bear with me.

Your name is Jake English, you’ve been a god of your own universe for about 900 years, and there was a time when you thought that fact alone was weird enough. Now, however, you might be reconsidering.

“So they just...hatch?” You whisper, nose crinkling a bit despite yourself. You push your glasses back up your nose--not that you need them anymore, but it was a hard habit to break--and watch intently as the brown cocoon in front of you continues to wiggle.

“That they do.” Kanaya smiled back at you, voice warm as her eyes lit up. She was completely in her element right now. You and nine others were down in a smaller cavern near the mother grub, called by Kanaya to watch the hatching of the resurrected friends. Only the guardians assigned by Karkat were permitted to be here, along with himself, Ally, and Terezi, and you felt mildly pleased with yourself that he had chosen you to watch over Tavros. You liked the guy the few times you had spoken to him, and you were excited at the opportunity to prove just how good you were at raising things.

“Five bucks says Aradia hatches before Nepeta.” Dave turned to Fran, one eyebrow raised. Fran grinned back, “Even though I’m pretty sure ‘bucks’ haven’t been invented on the human planet yet, you’re on.”

They did have a point. While the universe was still very young, all of you and your friend’s combined involvement had shot forward development and evolution on all the planets thousands of years. According to Ivan, nothing bad was going to happen because of it, and you were more than happy to go gallivanting off to all the currently unexplored star systems. Being confined to the Alternian planet for the next ten sweeps (with the exception of specific occasions) was going to be a whole new game for you.

“Have you picked out a hive for Aradia yet?” Karkat asked Dave, obviously annoyed that he wasn’t taking this seriously. 

Dave shrugged, “Yeah, there’s one by some ruins or some shit. Terezi said she liked that, right?”

“She’s going to want to go exploring often, so keep an eye on her, please.” Kanaya raised an eyebrow, then everyone turned abruptly as a large snap resounded through the cave. You looked in front of you to spot a large tear in the brown cocoon, something orange shining inside.

“That’s my boy!” You pumped a fist into the air. “Tavros Nitram is the first to feel the light of day!”

“Jake, we’re underground.” Ally laughed, and you shrugged, unbothered by it. Not long after, more cracks echoed from the other cocoons, and everyone was wrapped up in watching their own trolls hatch. Kanaya flitted from person to person, offering advice and last minute trivia bits while Karkat dragged Ally and Terezi from wriggler to wriggler to make sure everything felt okay.

“I mean, they’re as similar to the memories as we could get.” Ally told him, and Terezi added, “They have the same basic personalities of our friends, but we won’t really know much until they start getting older.”

Karkat nodded like he had expected this. “Okay, right. So then us three will need to travel around every few weeks to each one of the trolls and do a full assessment--”

“Oh my _gods_ , can we not with the work talk?” Ally groaned, already squatting down to play with one of the wrigglers next to Dave. “Let’s just let them relax for a bit, and then we can go bug them as much as we want.”

Karkat looked bothered, but Kanaya quickly overrode them, explaining to the group gathered how they should best care for the young trolls. Luke was holding onto Sollux with a wary look on his face, and Rose smiled over at him, “Don’t worry. Roxy is already waiting back at your hive to help you with him.”

“Are you two going to be okay with the seadwellers?” Karkat asked Kanaya and Rose, who were both looking fondly down at Feferi while Eridan still struggled out of the cocoon. “You know Feferi’s going to be training to be the next empress, right? That’s going to take a lot of time and focus--”

“We are ready for the responsibility.” Rose mused, giving Karkat another grin. “We’ve had a few perigrees to get ready under your careful watch, and I dare say you have us all well prepared.”

“And thoroughly educated.” Ally snorts next to you, and you laugh, only to quiet when Karkat shoots a glare your way. Instead, you lean down and pick up Tavros, already a little worried about how big his horns are. 

“Alright, so everyone is aware of the rules, then?” Karkat asked, obviously noticing how tired everyone was getting of listening to him. You doubted he’d give up anytime soon, though.

“No telling them about their past selves under any circumstances.” Dave recites, and Ivan follows up with, “No telling them anything that has to do with them becoming immortal until they have reached their titling day.”

“Don’t leave them unless you have a babysitter--er, grubsitter. Only under extreme circumstances such as a major cosmic event or you are invoked in major prayer are you allowed to leave your charge unattended!” You throw out, smiling. 

“No hints or clues about their future.” Karkat adds, giving a pointed look at Terezi and Ally. “And no extreme favors that make them think they’re special.”

“Well, isn’t being raised by a god instead of a lusus going to make them think that, anyways?” Fran asked, looking at Ivan before continuing. “If they personally know a good portion of the gods and know that some of their friends do as well, they’re going to think we’ve chosen them for something.”

Dave raised his eyebrows. “Good point, Frannie. Karkat, rebuttal?”

Karkat was silent for a moment, then he actually looked to Kanaya. “Any ideas on a cover story?”

She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she thought. “There are already plenty of stories throughout the cosmos of the gods having favorite mortals, no thanks to our frequent visits and interactions. Suppose we tell them we just took a liking to them and we wanted to see them grow?”

“Or we could tell them no lusus would choose them so we took them in instead!” You suggested, and Karkat shot you a look.

“Yeah, break them down before we build them up, sounds real nice.” You deflated, but he sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. So, every once in awhile, a grub won’t be chosen by a lusus, and we were all bored and just decided to raise them ourselves. There’s the story, as uncreative as it gets. You all better stick to it. I’ll make sure everyone else knows.”

With another few grumbled warnings from Karkat and motherly advice from Kanaya, everyone disappeared from the caverns in flashes of light. You held tightly onto the young Tavros and closed your eyes, whisking yourselves away to almost the other side of the planet.

As your flash of yellow light faded, you looked around the smaller room of the hive you had chosen. It was out in the countryside of the planet, so it had plenty of room for exploring with the little guy. You were sure once he was older he’d love to run out through those fields with you and meet all the different creatures that lived out here.

He wiggled in your arms and you set him down, taking care not to poke your eye out with his horns. You smirked as you watched him wobble around the room, exploring. You’d have to keep an eye out for those horns, pun intended.

“So this is Tavros.”

You jumped, spinning around to see the last bits of a pink flash fading away as Dirk appeared behind you, usual smirk in place beneath his glasses.

“Jegus, Dirk! Don’t sneak up on him like that, you’ll scare him!”

“I think it was you I scared.” His smirk grew, coming closer to you before his head turned and he looked to Tavros, who was now sitting down and playing with a ball shaped toy on the floor. He watched silently, and you had to ask.

“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting a few of the others? Because of Karkat’s assignments?”

“Nepeta and Equius, yeah.” He shrugged. “And I think I’m supposed to work with Sollux later on, but there’s plenty of time to go see them.”

He turned to smile at you, one of those rare Strider genuine smiles, and you can’t help but grin back.

“Yes, I suppose there is quite a bit of time, isn’t there?”

The wriggler on your floor lets out a squeal, Dirk throws an arm around your shoulders, and you venture forth into the wild unknown that is raising a troll.


	3. How to Raise Your Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nepeta and Equius are one sweep old.

“Fran she won’t stop crying oh my god _help_ \--”

“Ally, calm down.” Fran laughed, walking over to her friend to scoop the screaming troll from her arms. The olive grub scars--still visible, showing how young the troll was--rubbed against her arm a bit, and she shifted, checking the wrappings around the troll’s legs. “Well, she doesn’t need changed.”

“And she won’t eat anything.” Ally whined, still sitting with her legs splayed open on the ground. A few jars of troll food lay on the ground beside her, all of them open and still full. She looked helplessly up at Fran, pouting. “What did I do wrong? Jade said it was so easy to get along with her! And I love babies!”

“Well, they’re not babies, they’re trolls, for starters.” Fran snorted, holding the young troll closer to her and shooting a disdainful look at the wasted food. Slowly, the troll’s cries faded out, and instead, she began squirming to get down from Fran’s arms. “It’s a completely different thing. Raising trolls is very different from raising humans.” She set her down, and immediately the troll ran back at Ally, who instinctively wrapped her arms around her.

“They really are fascinating.” Fran’s eyes lit up, watching the young troll climb up towards Ally’s shoulder while Ally made a face as her hair was pulled. “So different from humans yet a lot of things are similar. In fact, when she was-- _Ally, be careful!_ ”

Ally froze, afraid of Fran getting mad at her, but they both stopped to watch as the troll began giggling. She was hanging upside down from Ally’s outstretched arm, mouth stretched in a large grin.

“Uh, I dunno, Fran.” Ally hesitated, watching the troll try and hang from one leg. “I think she’s enjoying it.”

“She’s too small for playing like that!” Fran huffed, watching in fear as Ally shook her arm, starting to giggle with the smaller troll. “Nepeta likes to play with her stuffed animals and listen to stories, not to be flung around--” She cut herself off, watching as Ally tossed her in the air and then caught her, both of them erupting into giggles when Ally pretended to drop her.

“Nah, she likes playing rough.” Ally smiled, eyes a little distant, and Fran hesitated. Ever since the younger trolls had hatched and began growing up, Ally had been hit with flashes of memories, whether from their past selves or their friends. Terezi had been experiencing it as well, and Kanaya and Karkat thought it was from their part in the resurrection being to put their personalities in the grubs. 

“Just a minor side effect.” Alec had shrugged, watching as Ally mimicked noises that apparently Karkat’s lusus had made. “They’ll be fine.”

Now, watching Ally pretending to wrestle with Nepeta, Fran wondered just how much it was affecting them. Terezi began avoiding Tavros altogether because of 'something that happened with Vriska’, and Ally had actually avoided Gamzee for a week after first meeting Nepeta. Honestly, it was probably good that Karkat hadn’t assigned Ally or Terezi a troll to raise. The constant memory flashes would be a nightmare to deal with, not to mention their questionable raising techniques.

“We should get her a cat.”

Fran’s eyes snapped back to Ally, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Sorry?”

“A cat.” Ally repeated, like it was obvious. “Or like, at least some pictures of cats or something. Lions, tigers, all those.”

Fran smirked. “We’ll see what we can do. Maybe we’ll find a lusus similar--”

“What’s this about lusii?”

Karkat’s voice echoed through the doorway, and they looked to see him walking in the room with Ivan in tow, carrying the other troll that they were raising in this area. 

All of the guardians who had been chosen to raise the younger trolls were now residing on Alternia, in different areas that resembled their original upbringing. They could leave for small amounts of time to tend to their other godly duties, but they would be here for the most part until the younger trolls reached their titling day, nine sweeps from now. It was a miniscule amount of time to them, but they still had things they had to take care of. The gods often rotated who would babysit for them depending on who was needed to oversee something or who had a festival day to be worshipped at or who was being invoked at a prayer. Usually, this meant Kanaya and Rose and Fran were constantly running around everywhere, which left Alec as the main babysitter.

It could have been worse. Alec was actually surprisingly good with trolls, and he was the only one that hadn’t been bitten yet. (Luke, on the other hand, was constantly covered in marks from Sollux.)

The hive Fran and Ivan had chose was a large, open hive with a big back door that led straight out to a more jungle-looking area that Ally had promised Nepeta would love growing up near. Ivan himself was enjoying the greenery, and Fran loved to read outside when the weather was nice.

“We should get Nepeta a cat!” Ally shouted, turning around with Nepeta climbing onto her head. Karkat paused to watch for a moment, then shook his head and sighed.

“A cat would be interesting.” Ivan smiled, looking to Fran. “Considering all Karkat has told me about Nepeta’s previous life, I feel like one would be good for her.”

Ally let out a cheer, slinging Nepeta around her shoulders as Fran watched on with worry.

“Equius is developing just as we expected.” Karkat told Ally in a tired voice, watching as Ivan set Equius down so he could run over to Nepeta. He took no time at all to return to his ‘leader voice’ or whatever Ally was calling it now. “Sweating problem, check. Weird obsession with horses, check. Between the two of them, it should keep you two busy.” He looked to Fran, who was now trying to get both Equius and Nepeta untangled from Ally’s hood. “Terezi should be by in a week to do the mental check. Then again, who knows? She keeps her own schedule. But we’ve got more trolls to visit today. Come on, Ally. Dave said Aradia’s already giving him trouble.”

“Aw, can we stay a bit longer?” Ally frowned, looking to Karkat. He raised an eyebrow and she let out a dramatic sigh, finally standing. Nepeta let out a cry and Ally patted her head, mumbling, “I know, I know. I’ll come visit soon, I promise.” With another sigh, Ally walked over to Karkat, and after giving Ivan a hug, she and Karkat disappeared in a flash of pink and red, leaving the hall weirdly empty save for the sounds of Equius trying to hold back Nepeta from climbing on top of him.

“So it went well with Equius?” Fran asked Ivan, scooping up Nepeta in her arms once more.

“Very well.” Ivan smiled, grabbing Equius’ hand as they walked to the food area in the hive. “Karkat assessed that everything was behaving as it should be relations wise. He also said that there’s a possibility for them to become moirails in the future?” He raised an eyebrow to Fran, who giggled and shoved his arm.

“They’re only one sweep. We have plenty of time to watch for that later.” She set Nepeta down on the counter, turning to smile back at Ivan. “What titles do you think they’ll pick?”

Ivan rolled his eyes. “You said it yourself. We have plenty of time, Fran. Now, are we going to feed these two or not?”

Nepeta and Equius let out a cheer, the clear night held thousands of stars out in the sky, and the trolls were one sweep old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the chapters will get longer as the trolls get older, i promise (:


	4. How to Get Your Troll to Eat His Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan is stubborn, Feferi is sweet as ever, and they're two sweeps old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like i said, they're kinda young, so the chapters are boring. they'll get a bit more exciting as they get older and start getting into more trouble.

Your name is Rose Lalonde, it’s been 906 years since the door opened to your universe, and you have a two sweep old troll that simply will not eat his dinner.

“Eridan, please listen to Rose. You need to eat.” Kanaya tried to reason with him, fixing him in an even stare. He returned the glare, grey eyes narrowed.

“Kanaya, I don’t think we can really reason with him when he’s just now starting to speak in full sentences.” You smile at her, and she sighs and sits back as Eridan pushes the plate of food back once more.

“Done!” Feferi pipes up cheerily, holding her spoon in her hand above her head. Kanaya turned and grinned at her, rubbing her hair affectionately.

“Very good! You can go swim now, but stay close, we have guests arriving soon.” Feferi cheered and scampered off to the part of the hive that dipped lower and went underwater. They had chosen this hive specifically for that fact: It was large, it was part underwater part above ground, and it was near enough to the temple where Feferi would begin her training to become the next empress when she was three sweeps old. She definitely preferred the underwater portion of the hive, and ended up spending most of her time down there.

Just as Eridan opened his mouth to argue, a bright flash of pink and red caught his eye, making everyone in the room turn to look as a flash of teal followed. Feferi came sprinting out of the water, throwing her arms in the air as she shouted, “Terzy! Karkat! Ally!”

Ally let out a cackle and stooped down to pick her up while Terezi snorted with a grin, “She still can’t say my name right?”

“I think she prefers the nickname.” You told her warmly, standing to go greet them along with Kanaya. Eridan’s eyes widened, and he ducked behind your skirt when Karkat looked his way.

“Sorry, we didn’t know you guys were eating dinner.” Ally grinned breezily. “We’ll be super quick then so you can get back to that.”

“Eridan, go on.” Kanaya pushed him forward gently, and he turned his large eyes up to look at Terezi, who was grinning down at him. 

“How’s it going, Eridan?” Karkat asked tiredly as he leaned down on one knee. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave soon.”

“Hey, no need to be nervous.” Ally reached over and grabbed Eridan’s shoulder gently, and his eyes snapped over to meet hers as a pink glow started at her fingertips. You smirked as you could feel the tension in the room melt away, and soon enough, Eridan’s posture had relaxed until he was smiling next to Feferi. “See? You’re fine!”

“Me first!” Feferi stood on her tip-toes, holding her hands up. Terezi complied quickly, placing her hand against the side of the small troll’s head. You sat back as Kanaya asked Karkat a few questions about the goings-on in other realms. It was fairly routine now, these three coming to visit. Feferi was always excited, at least. Terezi generally went first to see their minds and make sure nothing was biologically out of whack and Ally would follow up and make sure their personality had sealed into them correctly. Karkat generally just asked the guardians questions as to if they’d been growing up well in the past few perigrees it’d been since they visited last.

At first, Karkat had insisted they come at least every couple weeks. Slowly, Ally and Terezi had been able to convince him every few months was okay, and it’d most likely be even less than that and much less formal in the future. 

“Great job, Feferi! Thank you for being the best, as usual.” Ally ruffled her hair with a grin, then turned to Eridan as Terezi pulled away. “Ready, bud?”

He only nodded, cheeks blushing purple as she reached for him. He closed his eyes, Ally mirroring it, and you _almost_ snorted as Kanaya whispered, “He’s going to be heartbroken when she doesn’t come see him so often in the future.” Almost.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karkat asked, suddenly beside them, usual frown in place. 

Kanaya smiled sideways at you, and she answered, “He’s always a little...starstruck after Ally leaves, especially the past couple times.”

“Starstruck?” Karkat’s nose crinkled in confusion, then he groaned. “Perfect. She can’t stick to just messing with mortals, the goddess of love has to make our friends fall for her as well.”

“I don’t think it’s Ally’s fault, really.” Kanaya shrugged, looking back over to Eridan, who was now smiling up at Ally as she stood. “The Eridan we knew was always more than willing to go looking for quadrants to fill, remember? It just doesn’t help that we have two someones now who get to see him so intimately on such a regular basis.”

“Let’s just hope he’s not so obnoxious about it this time. Sheesh, didn't think I'd have to put a fucking ban on relationships with them so early.” Karkat scoffed, then raised his voice as he saw Ally stand. “Ally, Terezi! Come on, we gotta head out. Time to visit Jake and Tavros.”

Instantly, Eridan and Feferi’s faces dropped, and Ally quickly stooped to hug them.

“Don’t worry! We’ll be back to see you soon!” She grinned at them both, giving them one more squeeze before adding on, “You two be good for Kanaya and Rose, okay? And always finish your dinner.” Ally raised an eyebrow at Eridan, and he blushed almost immediately. After they both promised and hugged Ally once more, they took a few steps back, Ally falling back to just behind Terezi and Karkat.

“Keep an eye on Eridan.” Karkat advised quickly, ignoring Terezi, who was making faces at the younger trolls. “Keep Feferi out of trouble, we’ll be back to see her soon!”

With a flash of light, the three gods disappeared, and Kanaya waited a moment before directing Eridan back towards the table.

“Come on, you heard Ally, finish your dinner.” He grumbled the entire way through it, but he finished, and you gave Kanaya a triumphant smirk when he did. Kanaya only sighed, moving the younger trolls up towards their coons.

It’s been 906 years since the door opened, their friends were two sweeps old, and Rose was wondering why she had ever thought raising trolls would be easy.


	5. How to Get Your Troll a Computer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three sweeps and some gods arguing.

Your name is Aradia Megido, you’re three sweeps old, and even you can admit that you’re kind of a handful.

“Aradia! Get down here!”

You turned to look over your shoulder to where Dave was standing on the grass, his unamused expression frowning beneath his glasses. You sighed and turned, easily jumping down from the branch you were sitting on. Dave’s hands were on his hips, and though his eyes were covered by his sunglasses, you could see how firmly his lips were pressed together, clearly indicating he wasn't happy about something.

"What is it?" You asked, landing softly on the grass with the help of your psionics. His lips pressed firmer together as they crackled, and you stopped them, realizing they might be part of the problem.

"Look, I get that you can do your electric whatever thing now--"

"My psionics."

"--Whatever. You can do it, cool. That doesn't mean you get to just bop around all over the place like some overcharged hummingbird."

You're quiet for a moment, watching as he goes on some sort of rambling rant about some animal you're not familar with. As he goes on, your smile grows wider and wider, and finally he stops, frowning. "What? Why are you giving me the creepy fangirl smile? We've talked about that shit, Aradia--"

"You're worried about me."

He visibly falters. "What? No, fuck that shit. No way--"

"Dave, you were worried about me!" You grin even wider, watching as he flinches back from it. "You big worrywart, you were afraid I'd get hurt!"

"Oh, _gog_ no--"

"Aw, Dave!" You wrap your arms around him, giggling as he tries to get free. Both of you know he could easily, or just teleport away, or even fly, or pause time--but he doesn't. He pretends to struggle for your benefit, and something inside you warms a bit. "That is so sweet of you. Thank you."

He goes a bit stiller at that, but not much. After a couple beats, he finally shoves you away, waving his hand and saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's probably just some symptom of being trapped with you for the past six years or whatever."

"Years?" You pause, then grin. "Oh! Three sweeps is about equal to six and a half of your kind of years! Duh." You smile again, plopping down on the grass. He joins you, and together you look out over the various holes you dug today. You dug a lot of them and only came up with a few things, but hey, it was fun! "And that's like 52,560 hours!"

"Still pretty cool that you can do that." Dave mumbles, scratching his chin idly. You think he might be trying to grow a beard or something, but it's not working very well. "Don't think anyone else's trolls are that smart yet."

"Anyone else's?" You ask, curiosity piqued. "More of your friends have trolls?"

"Uh." He stills, "Shit. Okay. Um. Yeah, I guess. Okay, we're doing this, then. Uh, yeah. Some of my friends, other gods like me, picked some trolls to raise and shit. You all didn't have lususes, or lusii, whatever the fuck you call them, but yeah. So they took them. Yeah."

He's obviously uncomfortable, but that only makes you grin wider.

"Who else is raising trolls? What are their names? What are they like?"

"Whoa, slow your roll. Too Many questions." Dave gives you a sideways look, trying not to smile. "There's like, eight more of us kind of involved in raising. I dunno, some people switch up. And as far as I know, no one else has a troll kid as nosy as you are." He leans over to ruffle your hair, and you laugh, pushing his hand back.

"Can I meet them?"

He turns to look at you, and you can sense his eyes widening behind his glasses. "Uh. Not sure. I don't think we have rules on that."

"You have rules?" Your mouth drops open in surprise. "But you said no one can make you do anything because you're the most po--"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up, I was lying." Dave's hand moves quickly to cover your mouth, interrupting you. "Karkat made these rules and he gets pissy if we don't follow them, so I only do it to save him from a meltdown, obviously."

After a couple more giggles to prove you know he's lying, he takes his hand back and looks back out over the smaller field of holes you had dug next to the hive. "Well…"

There's a pause for the next 26 seconds, and then he speaks again.

"You know what? Fuck it. Roxy's kid already has a computer, why can't you?" He groans, standing up. "Be right back, don't do anything stupid." He flashes away in an explosion of red, and you rush back to your hive.

In the next half hour, Dave has reappeared with John, both of them holding various computer parts. They get to work setting it up, but it isn't long before they're arguing about which wire goes where.

"Dave, that's not how it works--"

"Right, because you're the expert in troll technology, I forgot, _forgive me, Master_ \--"

"I never said I was the master!!" John finally stands up, taking a deep breath to calm the wind that flew in the window. With a shy smile to you--still sitting on a chair, kicking your feet serenly--he apologizes. "Shouldn't have yelled like that in front of you. That's my bad!" Then he looks back to Dave. "I'm gonna go get Roxy, she should be able to set this up quicker than we can."

Dave's head snaps up. "No, shit, Egbert, wait--"

But he flashes away in a light blue, and Dave throws his head back and groans loudly for a full 46 seconds.

"Why shouldn't he get Roxy?" You ask, then frown. "Wait, who's Roxy?"

"Another goddess." Dave flippantly waves, leaning back on his heels. "She's cool. Super funny. But she's with the angriest god alive right now, so no doubt he's about to come in here and bite my head off for even setting this up--"

As if on cue, two flashes of a lighter and darker blue appear in the room before you, and John is standing next to a blonde girl just a couple inches shorter than him. John's eyes are wide, "Dave, I'm sorry, but he insisted--"

Immediately, there's a flash of a red darker than Dave's, and suddenly Karkat is in the room already, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"What the everloving fuck do you not understand about no special favors?" His eyes are wide and disbelieving. "We agreed no computers until four sweeps! Sollux was an exception because he literally can't live without them! What were you thinking--"

Another bright flash, and you think you recognize this goddess with red hair and pink clothes, but you're not sure where from.

"Karkat! Chill!" She's saying, breathless as Roxy begins laughing. "Oh my god, so she wants to surf the internet, so what?"

"She's three sweeps!" Karkat shrieks, and Roxy raises an eyebrow.

"Are you tryin' to tell me you weren't surfin' the web as soon as you could?"

Karkat takes a step back, "Well, no, I'm not saying--there's nothing--who asked you!" He frowns again, red eyes blazing. "You aren't a part of this!"

"Uh, she kind of is." John points out sheepishly. "We need her to make sure we have everything set up probably."

The pink goddess grins. "Karks, come on! It's just the internet. She's lonely out here, let her talk to some friends or something. We don't want to isolate her, you know?"

A different sort of feeling leeches into the room, bringing the sense of understanding and pity, and that clues you in. With wide eyes, you look over to the pink goddess. So this must be the one who can do the emotion thing!

"I guess...fuck, whatever." Karkat throws his hands in the air, mollified. "Whatever! Whatever. I'm done. Just…" He turns to look at you, the first time any of the gods have really acknowledged you during their argument. You grin back at him, and you see his expression soften.

"Just don't be stupid on the internet, okay?" He says quieter, and you nod back vigorously.

"Fine, that's done then, thank you, half of the fucking gods for deciding this isn't a federal fucking issue." Dave says, monotone. John raises his eyebrows.

"Dave! Language!"

After a quick few minutes of Roxy hooking up wires and then the gods heading out, Roxy's scribbled down a couple of troll handles and instructed you to download a messaging app called Trollian. She disappears, Dave walks off downstairs, and you add your first friend on the app.

\-- apocalypseArisen [AA]  began pestering  twinArmageddons [TA] \--  
AA: hell0 s0llux!  
AA: my name is aradia 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's implied that sollux's response was somewhere along the lines of "who the fuck are you"

**Author's Note:**

> guide to the gods is now up! go check that out (:


End file.
